


Cowardice

by stateofintegrity



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: M/M, conversion therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27548215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stateofintegrity/pseuds/stateofintegrity
Summary: When Klinger finds out his boyfriend is engaged, he's less than happy about the news.
Relationships: Maxwell Klinger/Charles Emerson Winchester III
Kudos: 9





	Cowardice

In 1926, a team of highly regarded scientists and doctors set out to “correct and discipline” the Winchester heir. 

In 1933, these men were quietly sued for their failure. They paid or they were ruined, stripped of their licenses, their savings, and their connections. 

In 1935, a family council was called to deal with “this unfortunate business.” Some forms of shame could be weathered: divorce, for instance, embezzlement- even exile on the continent. Others could be swept under the many Persian rugs: alcoholism, minor mental episodes, idiocy. This, however, this had to be circumscribed and shut down. The figure at the center of this scandal was to be pitied, but also protected from himself. The family was, of course, to be protected most of all. 

In 1940, Charles Emerson Winchester III was betrothed to a young lady of great breeding, great fortune, and little wit. The entire process was carried out by lawyers in New York offices; there was no pretense of romance. 

In 1951, Charles refused his family’s aid in escaping the draft… because the draft was, for now, another way to escape the altar. 

In 1952, trembling hands distributed mail to the Swamp. Klinger entered and departed in uncharacteristic silence, skin pale; he didn’t press his lips to the back of his lover’s neck as he always did. Busy with weekly reports, Charles was oblivious to this omission until Pierce balled up a bit of junk mail and threw it at him. 

“ _ I said  _ what’s wrong with your boyfriend, Charles?”

“Hmmm?” He looked up then, noticed the mail on his desk. “Maxwell was here?”

“He wasn’t looking good, either,” BJ seconded Hawk. “You’d better go check on him.” 

Charles figured that Klinger was probably fighting a headache; Korea’s stormy climate triggered his migraines and they hadn’t found a pill combination that proved prophylactic yet. Then he reached a place in the pile where a pale green envelope rested and his pallor changed almost to match it. “Oh dear.”

“Charles? You okay?”

“No.” His voice was strangled, a little sick. “I think I may be able to offer some insight as to Sergeant Klinger’s distress, however.” He gingerly lifted the envelope; BJ thought he would have shown less care with a hypodermic full of poison or a venomous snake. 

Paper clipped to the back was the copy of a newspaper article from twelve years earlier. “Mr. and Mrs. Charles Emerson Winchester II wish to announce,” it began. Charles sighed. “This letter is from my fiancé.” 

A great deal of angry name-calling followed before Winchester won back the right to explain. “Gentlemen, please. The two of you are following the same path that Sergeant Klinger has so hastily gone down.” He  _ did  _ wonder when the letter had actually arrived, how long Klinger had taken to learn what he  _ thought _ was the truth. 

Hawkeye barely heard him. “You had no right to get involved with that kid if you’ve got someone waiting for you at home, Charles! How long has he been in your bed? A year!? And you were leading him on  _ the whole time _ !?” 

“I was doing nothing of the sort. Maxwell is the great love of my life - the  _ sole  _ love of my life.” He tapped the letter on the desk. “ _ This  _ is a dynastic complication created by a family that loves me and genuinely believes that it wishes me happiness… even if it manages to do so in the most misguided way possible.” 

BJ’s arms were crossed across his chest; he looked like he wanted to challenge him to a duel. “Explain.”

Not given to intimidate revelations, Charles cared enough about Klinger even to play tour guide to this sordid side of his life. He took them through his family’s attempts to cure him of his proclivities and the youthful indiscretions that highlighted their failure. He told how he was exiled to boarding schools and banished from family confidences until something could be done with him. “Cue Leighton ‘Lee-lee’ Harper,” said Charles with a grimace. “A sweet girl with the intellect of a post-lobotomy canary. Her family needs  _ another  _ family to foist her off on. My family is ashamed and pitying of my state. A perfect match, no?”

“Being rich ain’t for wimps,” Hawk murmured. “You didn’t get a say in all this?” 

“To disentangle myself from ‘all this,’ as you call it, I accepted an army commission and assignment to the Far East. I thought that the distance would give me a bit of breathing room.”  _ And time to come up with an escape plan.  _

“You’re saying you would  _ literally  _ rather be shot at than go through with this wedding?” BJ asked.

“Yes!” 

“And if you say ‘no,’ what happens? They cut you off?” 

“Yes. However,  _ that  _ is not my primary concern. I have some money in trust that is mine, unconnected to and uncontrolled by the family. I own a home. I remain a surgeon with or without my family’s support. What concerns me is my sister. They will forbid her to see me - or worse, try to force her into an equally loveless union to punish me. My ‘remaining in harness,’ so to speak, has won her her freedom from similar entanglements.” 

_ Huh. Charles really does love someone more than he loves himself,  _ thought Hawkeye.  _ Two someones.  _ “Charles, you never told Klinger about any of this?” 

“I was endeavoring to erase ‘this’ from existence, so no, it didn’t seem proper to burden him with my problems.”

Hawk sighed. “You do know that means Klinger is somewhere with his heart breaking?”

“Yes. But I  _ also  _ know he won’t want to see me yet - and that he is  _ very  _ hard to find when found is not something he wishes to be. He fits into many small spaces.”

Hawkeye’s brows made a dramatic northerly move. “When we’re less worried about him, remind me to find out exactly  _ how _ you found that out, Charles.” 

Charles’ face was studiously blank but his eyes smiled and there it was, a faint but very real flash of pride. 

BJ cleared his throat; he had little patience for either Charles’ surprisingly intense sex drive or Hawkeye’s voyeuristic curiosity. “What are you going to do about Klinger? How do you  _ fix _ this, Charles?” 

It was the wall he’d been seeking to maneuver around for his entire adult life, the plank he’d managed not to walk. “I won’t make Maxwell occupy the corners of my life. I won’t endure a sham marriage when my feelings for him are real. But I owe Honoria my protection also.”

“Have you ever talked to her about it?” BJ asked. Anyone who found burdening their beloved “improper” he reasoned, might have the same inklings where his baby sister was involved. 

“Of course not.”

_ Bingo.  _ “Let’s start there,” Hunnicutt suggested. “Find out if she needs your protection in quite so self-sacrificing a style.” 

Winchester agreed, surprising even himself, and Captains Pierce and Hunnicutt were introduced (via phone, which proved, without Klinger to guide them, both a mystery and a challenge) to Honoria E. Winchester- the one and only. 

They liked her from the moment she declared her brother an idiot and demanded how he could possibly for one bloody minute think either that she was unaware of his sexual orientation or that she was anything less than on his side. 

“Charles, you f-fool, this is the life you get when you re-refuse to show any b-backbone. No one is t-trying to m-marry me off because I had the great good sen-sense to make myself quite imp-impossible to deal with. So do b-bring home your dear Sergeant, but w-warn him that my spi-spinster self will be here to welcome him.”

“You are always most welcome in my home,” Charles said, emotion freighting the words. “I can speak for both of us. Max knows you like him better than you like me.” 

“He’s less of an idiot. U-usually, anyway. You st-still need to send me his m-measurements.”

Hawk’s brows did their climbing routine again. “Why?” he burst out, unable to contain himself. 

“Honoria,” Charles said - less a warning than a plea. 

“You d-don’t expect the man to sew h-his own trousseau, do y-you? That’s cruel. He’s a-already getting Ch-Charles.”

“I am not so terrible a bargain,” Charles protested. 

“He’s t-too good for you,” she said definitively, winning howls of amusement from BJ and Hawkeye. “Now go get him b-before he h-has the good sense to f-figure it out. If you l-lose him over this d-decade long en-engagement farce,  _ he _ won’t be the only one who w-won’t f-forgive you.” 

“I love you, too, darling.” 

***

Maxwell Klinger was, at that moment, quite out of reach. What was the point of being company clerk, after all, if you couldn’t rustle up a pass once in awhile to get supplies in Tokyo? It sure wasn’t the extra $12 a month in pay. He saw nothing of the Oriental streets, walked blindly past wares and food for sale. He’d promised himself after Laverne that he’d never be that stupid again. An ugly smile rose, twisting his features. Maybe this was a whole new level though. An aristocratic surgeon and an immigrant kid whose wallet never held more than $37 at a time?  _ Cinderella is for  _ **_kids_ ** , he reminded himself. 

But damn did it hurt. 

All those things Charles had said when he’d been lying in his arms…  _ Who knew the Major was such a good liar?  _ He’d believed that Charles was the one person who accepted him - all facets, all sides, all expressions of gender(s) - and he knew he’d never find someone who would do as much. So what was left for him? Try to be some sort of mistress in Boston? Live on the scraps of Winchester’s attention and time? Would his pride permit so stray-cat an existence? Scraps were better than nothing… unless they cost you everything else you had. 

Had  _ everyone  _ known? Had they laughed? He bet they were laughing now. 

“You’re wearing two different shoes,” Sidney said by way of greeting. 

Stunned eyes looked down. “They’re close,” he defended himself. 

“One of them has a  _ heel _ .” 

Klinger kicked out of both and told his stupid story, ending with his research work and the engagement announcement that had finally convinced him that, no, Virginia, your boyfriend isn’t taking you home when this is over. 

Sidney listened patiently; he’d had a rocky beginning with Klinger, misjudging the boy as a shirker, but he had come to regard him with real affection- as anyone would who had ever seen him with the wounded or caring for his friends - or with Winchester. Granted, Sidney thought, it was an odd match that he never would have gambled on… but he had seen the hundreds of tiny ways they complimented one another: Klinger tempering Winchester’s worst impulses, Winchester noticing and cherishing Klinger’s decorative touches. The thing that had most pleased Sidney was Winchester’s gentleness. Klinger probably didn’t need it - he was tough under all that lace - but it helped make up for the decidedly ungentle treatment of life in the army, the weather, and the war. 

He turned the announcement over in his hands. “Klinger, the date on this is 1940. You would have been… what? Eight? Nine?”

“Yeah. So?” 

“So, who stays engaged for  _ over ten years _ ?”

Klinger shrugged. “Rich people? Maybe their lawyers were hashing out who gets the second beach house if it doesn’t work out. I dunno. Am I supposed to feel better that he didn’t meet her last month?"

“I think so. Klinger, I’m not defending or censoring anyone- it’s not my line of work. He should have told you about this - whatever it is. However, I will say that everyone in Korea knows you belong to him - and he to you. Winchester isn’t ashamed of you.”

“I don’t know what he is!” Klinger countered. “Maybe the only reason he’s okay with all this,” he gestured, shaking fingers encompassing his nylons, his skirt. “Is because he’s pretending I’m  _ her _ . Except the real her is someone that won’t cost him his family… that can give him kids.” A tear slipped over his cheek. “We had all those conversations, y’know? I fought him like hell against the whole thing because it was such an awful idea, him and me. But you know Charles. He’s  _ so _ patient. When I’d get mad and tell him not to throw his life away, he’d just sit back and wait. He knew I couldn’t stay away from him.” He wiped away new tears. “He said he didn’t want me to. He said a lot of things. I guess that’s maybe something they teach you in those fancy schools, right? How to get what you want from people below you. I’m not ‘the help,’ maybe - but it’s close enough.” 

“Klinger…” He had known the Corporal had misgivings about “marrying up” as he probably would have termed it. But there was a lot here to unpack and set right. Had Winchester not noticed it? he wondered. Or had he assumed, as a healer, that he could (maybe even  _ had _ ) fixed it? 

“Why did he hafta lie?” Max asked - not really wanting an answer. “He could’ve had me either way, probably,”

Sidney stopped him. “You’re lying now. You’re not that kind of girl, my dear. It separates you from the majority of your friends at the 4077.”

“So, he told me all that forever stuff because I wouldn’t have been with him otherwise?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t think so. Klinger you’re a shrewd operator. The Colonel says you never get tricked in a trade.”

“Yeah, so? My ancestors traded horses and camels. You don’t want either one to break down fifty miles from the nearest oasis.” 

“So that tells me that you know how to read voices. And I’ll bet there’s no voice on this planet you’ve listened to closer than the Major’s. You think he could lie to you that well? That long?”

Klinger closed his eyes, heard his name in that accented voice. God, the things he’d made Charles say… things no one would have ever guessed, things no one else knew (unless Hawk wasn’t joking about spying on them)... “I don’t,” he admitted. “But then what  _ is  _ this? He  _ forgot _ he was engaged?”

“More like he doesn’t consider it a real engagement, I’d guess.” 

“An arranged marriage?” He wrinkled his nose. “Even if it is… it’s still a marriage. I’m not real picky, sir, but I think I should kinda come first in my own relationship.” He hung his head then, mumbled, “Not that I guess I can, really… it’s not legal.”

“Maybe not, but I wouldn’t bet against your Major. He may find a way to make it so.” As this did not seem to cheer the wilted Corporal (Sidney didn’t know  _ how  _ it was possible, but Klinger’s clothing often seemed to be in total sympathy with his moods; his skirt, right now, was purely depressed- and it had nothing to do with ironing), the psychiatrist offered another solution. “Klinger, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re quite close to Charles’ sister, yes?” He couldn’t remember the girl’s name, only that it was something that made him think of goddesses. 

“Yeah. So?”

“She would know if her brother was engaged, right?”

“I imagine. But she’s  _ his  _ family. I can’t put Nori in the middle of this!” 

“So don’t. Tell her she doesn’t have to tell you anything, but if she wouldn’t mind,” he didn’t get to finish because the phone rang. A series of strange, contradictory emotions flitted across Sidney’s seamed features. “Why, yes,” he said at last, clearly confused. “He is here.” He passed Klinger the phone even as Klinger frantically shook his head.

“It isn’t the Major,” Sidney assured him. 

Klinger answered, gaped, and said, “How?” several times. 

“M-Maxwell, d-doll, both Winchester children are b-brilliant. You’re seeing my i-idot brother so you will un-understand when I t-tell you that Ch-Charles is brilliant in very sp-specific ways.  _ I,  _ however, am p-possessed of a more g-general brilliance that a-allows me to intuit things l-like w-who you would go to when in crisis. I a-also possess a-access to Charles’ accounts, which is w-what is allowing us to h-have this lovely and un-unexpected conversation.” 

Klinger just gaped. 

“May I s-suggest,” his would-be sister-in-law said then, “that if Ch-Charles is ever fool enough to b-break your heart again, you call  _ me _ f-first? I have d-dueling sabers and p-pearl handled pistols and am sk-skilled with both.”

“Ma’am,”

“Seriously Max?” 

“ _ Miss _ ?” he tried again, hoping. 

“Honoria. It’s many, many t-too many syllables, but if you can speak E-English, Arabic, and G-god help you,  _ Charles _ , you can do it?”

“Nori?”

“Perfect!” She clapped. 

“Nori, I… I didn’t think it would be right to call you behind the Major’s back.”

“Was it p-proper for him to k-keep this engagement lunacy from you?” 

“Two wrongs.”

“Fair enough. But you d-didn’t call. I did. And I think you will be quite p-pleased to hear what I have to say. I w-won’t apologize for Ch-Charles - he remains my f-favorite idiot - but allow me to shed some light.”

She told him - the call expensive - what he needed to know. He wept (he was a tender-hearted thing) and then he proved himself a match for Charles when he offered to step aside to preserve the Winchester fortune. 

“D-don’t you dare! You d-deserve happiness, Max, and so d-does Ch-Charles, badly as he h-has handled all this. And d-darling, do consider s-something. There are o-only t-two Winchester children. If they d-disinherit my st-stupid brother, where on Earth do you t-think that money w-will go?” 

“I just… I don’t want to ruin things, ma’am, Nori. For Charles. I want to be something good.” 

“My -dear, you are the v-very best thing for Ch-Charles, take it f-from someone who knows. Now, go m-make him promise to b-break this stupid en-engagement the way he should have l-long ago.”

***

Charles was so happy to see him in his mismatched shoes that Klinger found it very difficult to be angry at him, much as he wanted to. 

“I am sorry, Max. So sorry.”

BJ and Hawkeye remained nearby in case they were needed.

“You have often called yourself a coward, my love,” Charles said to the love of his life. “But you have been brave in war and peace. When it comes to my family, I  _ was _ a coward - until yesterday.”

Ironically enough, he might have gone on being a coward. The letter from Ms. Harper had been to tell Charles that she had met someone better (read: richer), someone who really made her happy. He hoped it was true; certainly, he never could have done so. However, informed of this, Charles did not allow his family to begin looking for a new match; he told them about the man with whom he intended to share his life. 

“We will have less money than we might have,” he told Maxwell, “but I will always care for you.”

“You should have told me. I would have  _ helped _ , Charles. Can you imagine the swell engagement photos we could have taken?”

The surgeon brightened. “I can think of no reason why we should do less, now. Let us make them crazy, darling, with how very, very happy we are. How happy we shall always be.”

Max thought about hesitating - Charles had just broken one engagement, after all - but decided to be brave in this. “Make it a good proposal, Major baby. Use all those good words you have.”

“It shall be my most paramount pleasure, beloved.”

And hate the match though they might - no one who saw those photos could fail to believe that Charles Emerson Winchester III had found his truest match. 

End! 


End file.
